WINNSBORO – When word began to spread about the Fairfield Education Foundation’s proposed housing for teachers approximately three years ago, the project was generally referred to as the Teacher Village.
But that moniker must change, according to a spokesperson with the Teachers Village Newark in Newark, N.J.
After Fairfield’s Teacher Village began taking shape early last year, Dr. Sue Rex, president of the Fairfield County School District’s Education Foundation, received a letter dated Aug. 2, 2023, from a representative of the Teachers Village Newark notifying her of its trademarked name Teachers Village, which has been around for about 15 years.
In response, Rex wrote: “Our Foundation would like for you to inform your client that we have not referred to our project as the Fairfield Teacher Village in over a year. We call our initiative, the ‘Village in Winnsboro – A Community of Fairfield Educators.’
“We do not intend to use ‘Teacher Village’ on any publications or on our website,” Rex wrote.
But last month, after The Voice ran a front page story about the Foundation’s new Teacher Village with comments from Rex, Lonnie Soury, a spokesperson with the Teachers Village Newark, called The Voice, reiterating that the Foundation is not allowed to use the name Teachers Village.
The Voice contacted Rex with that information and she responded, saying that the signage on the construction site was being replaced with ‘Village in Winnsboro – A Community of Fairfield Educators.’
Rex assured The Voice that official paperwork concerning the housing project had been prepared with the title ‘Village in Winnsboro – A Community of Fairfield Educators,’ and that it would no longer be referenced as the Teachers Village. Rex said she is also encouraging board members and others to reference the project as the Village in Winnsboro instead of Teacher Village.